2201. Weakened
Albatia was speechless. King Elbas had created a personal level of power that required him to burn his world to show its effects. He had basically planted a cheat in the cultivation journey, but he had to pay a hefty price to use it.
"You are killing yourself," Albatia exclaimed as understanding dawned upon her mind.
"That's right!" King Elbas laughed as his flames continued to burn their way inside the final workshop.
"That's reckless and insane," Albatia stated.
"Please," King Elbas continued to laugh. "I had to watch idiots shooting higher than me through unreasonable methods. I had to get a little insane to show them who is the best."
"But your world might never recover!" Albatia shouted.
"I am the best inscription master in the world," King Elbas declared. "I can't count the number of items I have created to heal my world. Sure, the reoccurring stress might leave permanent damage, but you said it yourself. Our opponent had the chance to prepare for too long. I have to put my very life at risk to match it."
Albatia knew that words were useless at that point. King Elbas had made his decision, and the power that he unleashed proved that he was getting rewarded by it. Nothing in the ninth rank could oppose that explosive might.
"Xavier is right," A squeal resounded from among the storm, and a winged figure soon came out of it. "We all have to take risks to eat Heaven and Earth."
"What are you doing here?" King Elbas asked in a serious tone as he fixed his shining eyes on the Foolery. "Everything is about to explode."
"I won't let you seize all the glory," The Foolery announced.
"You will die," King Elbas continued.
"I'm dead anyway if I can't handle this," The Foolery sighed. "I don't want the fun to end."
King Elbas didn't know what to say in front of that rare serious moment from the pig. There was wisdom in its words. Even Albatia remained surprised to see that awareness.
"Besides," The Foolery continued in a tone that King Elbas knew would precede something idiotic, "Divine Demon would trap me inside that stupid place again if I don't improve. If I really have to die, I want to spend that time eating and pooping."
King Elbas shook his head, but his mood remained stern. The Foolery had made its choice, and he respected it.
"Suit yourself," King Elbas voiced before sending more power into his spear.
The flames inside the final workshop accelerated. Albatia didn't know how to stop their expansion, but she eventually wore a resolute expression. The battle was far from
Countless life and death experiences resurfaced in Albatia's mind and added fuel to a feeling that had remained silent for many years. Her survival instincts took fire as she used her immense knowledge and training to decide how to limit her losses.
The shades in the final workshop began to mutate. Multicolored currents flowed toward the expanding flames and started to isolate their power. The domain shrunk during the process, but Albatia didn't care. An excited smile even appeared on her face.
King Elbas snorted and sent a last wave of power toward the spear. The weapon shattered, but the flames generated during its destruction forced themselves past Albatia's barriers and dived deeper into the final workshop.
Albatia didn't move as she continued to send multicolored currents toward the flames. She didn't care if most of her technique crumbled. She only needed part of it to survive. Victory would be in her reach afterward.
Albatia was aware of King Elbas' weakness since he had explained the theory behind his fake quasi-rank 10 stage. He couldn't remain at that level forever. Actually, it was safe to assume that the power-up could only last for a short time due to its steep requirements.
The privileged cultivator was completely confident in her abilities, so she believed that the other experts wouldn't be a problem even in an injured state. She only had to take care of King Elbas to win.
The multicolored domain couldn't oppose the golden flames, but Albatia had never planned to win that exchange. She only wanted to hinder King Elbas' path to deplete more of his world.
King Elbas' gaze grew cold. He understood Albatia's plan, but he couldn't do anything to hinder it. He could only unleash everything he had.
King Elbas placed his whole arm inside the hole as his figure began to shine. The storm seemed to freeze when that golden radiance seeped inside its fabric. The entire battlefield lit up, and its contents became impossible to study since an explosion followed.
Sepunia and Supreme Thief watched everything unfolding from outside the explosion's range. The area soon stopped being dangerous, but they still waited for the waves of energy to disperse before sending their mental waves forward.
Two figures came out of the smoke and the lingering waves of energy could disperse. King Elbas landed in front of Sepunia in his normal form while the Foolery fell.
"Is it dead?" Sepunia asked.
"Sadly, it survived," King Elbas exclaimed.
The Foolery suddenly halted its fall and launched a loud squeal. Its skin had disappeared, and the muscles under it were charred and broken. However, golden light came out of its mouth and tried to escape its bite.
"Just stay inside my stomach!" The Foolery cursed as it ate every brim of energy that managed to leave its mouth.
"It should have just asked for my fake quasi-rank 10 energy," King Elbas sighed. "I would have gladly given it to him. In the form of an attack, obviously."
"You didn't need to go all-out," Sepunia commented while inspecting King Elbas' figure. "Your world is a mess. We could have worked together to defeat her."
"I needed to test this form anyway," King Elbas dismissed those worried words. "I can't do it on the landmass, and nothing in the higher plane can contain me when I unleash that power. The sky was the only place suited to become a testing area."
"Defying Demon's influence is strong in you," Sepunia stated.
"Nonsense," King Elbas snorted. "That idiot would have just slammed his swords until something worked. Don't even make me start talking about the other idiot. He would have come out with a random trick to win without understanding what was happening."
"You do realize that they can hear you, right?" Sepunia giggled, and Noah and Divine Demon waved their hands from the spot where they were resting.
"Why do you think I've said all of that?" King Elbas uttered while turning toward Noah and Divine Demon. "That's how you come up with a proper technique. I hope you learnt something today."
"You all joke too much," A voice suddenly came out of the smoke and dispersed it to reveal the battlefield.
The area occupied by the void was immense, but it carried a multicolored spot that illuminated Albatia's figure. The final workshop had turned into nothing more than a pebble that she held in her grasp, but it had survived.
"The pig is busy digesting your energy," Albatia announced, "And you are in no condition to fight. You pretend well, but I can see that your world needs care. You have lost."
"Thief, I've weakened her for you," King Elbas called while crossing his legs to begin his rest. "Even you should be able to defeat her now."
"Ah! You did a good job!" Supreme Thief declared.. "It's time to throw her inferior workshop into the void."